Under the situation of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, the iron and steel industry, as an emission-intensive industry, has great pressure on emission reduction, heavy responsibility and difficult tasks. At the same time, iron and steel products, as the basic materials for industrial development, also have a great impact on the environmental performance of downstream industries. However, so far, the environmental product declarations (EPDs) issued by the steel industry have been announced to the public in the form of self-declarations. Coupled with the gradual increase in the pressure of carbon tariffs at the international level, the steel industry urgently needs to issue authoritative, fair and internationally recognized environmental product declarations.
With this as the background, after the previous system construction, the establishment of technical committees, PCR (product type rules, that is, the same type of products need to establish environmental product declarations according to specific rules, to ensure that the statistical caliber of different declarations is consistent, so as to ensure that they are comparable. After a series of work such as the formulation and release of the China Iron and Steel Association, the EPD platform for the steel industry of the China Iron and Steel Association was officially released in Beijing on May 19. The platform can provide standardized format reports based on the international standard ISO14025 for environmental data and information throughout the product life cycle. The release of this platform has aroused great attention in the industry. At the same time, due to the late start of the platform in China, less understanding and less experience, it has also attracted some voices of concern.
domestic situation
Carrying out LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) of products is the only way for companies to measure the environmental performance of products in the future, and it is also an important basis for releasing EPD. At present, five domestic steel enterprises have established or are in the process of establishing their own LCA system.
The so-called LCA is a "cradle to grave" environmental management and analysis method and tool. It is the main method for identifying green and low-carbon products in the world, that is, from the extraction and transportation of raw materials for the production of the product to the production of the product. , until the product is scrapped and recycled, and the environmental impact of each link in the whole process is evaluated.
Behind the high attention, it reflects high expectations and high requirements, and it is also accompanied by great controversy. He Wenbo, Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Chairman of China Iron and Steel Association, proposed that "to run the EPD platform well, let the environmental product declaration become a low-carbon product medical certificate, a market economy letter of credit, and an international trade pass", which not only affirmed the construction of the EPD platform in the steel industry. Necessity, but also clarifies the path and goal of the platform's future development.
From the point of view of necessity, the establishment of an EPD platform for the steel industry is a timely and imperative move, which is of extraordinary significance to the enterprise, the industry, and the industrial chain.
Adding impetus to the realization of "dual carbon" for iron and steel enterprises and industries. Some experts have previously called for steel companies to release carbon reports rather than just social responsibility reports. After the release of the EPD platform, the carbon footprint and environmental performance information of iron and steel enterprises will be released in a more authoritative, credible and standardized way, that is, to provide "low-carbon product certification" for products, which will force the environmental performance of my country's iron and steel products throughout the life cycle The progress of the evaluation research prompts enterprises to systematically and deeply think about and inform the society of their carbon emission reduction work, actively benchmark against advanced standards, and provide more green and low-carbon high-quality products, thereby promoting the continuous improvement of the competitiveness of iron and steel enterprises and further enhancing The iron and steel industry has the right to speak to the formulation of national policies and to strive for financial support, helping to achieve the goal of "dual carbon".
Provide effective support for industrial chain enterprises to participate in global trade. Figuratively speaking, EPD is a proof of whether the steel production process is green. In the future, its importance is just like the nucleic acid test certificate in the context of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. It is an important basis for downstream users to choose this product and whether the product can be exported smoothly, that is, "market economy letter of credit, international trade pass" . For a long time, some iron and steel enterprises have issued environmental product declarations in the form of self-declarations, which often have problems such as low recognition of downstream users, weak industry influence, and inconsistent statistical caliber of environmental impact data, which cannot meet the needs of downstream enterprises in the process of integrating into international trade. The growing demand for authoritative, fair and credible EPD. The steel industry EPD platform provides a reliable path for Chinese steel industry chain enterprises to break through green international trade barriers.
